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M 8 U3 tv aa r d Pe A w lde a A G O6 0 B A J Wn M V n P7 4 m 4 o N NiTgEn STATES PATENT Onrica.

WILLIAM J. MOGALL, OF ORANGE VALLEY, NEW JERSEY.

HAT-FINISHING PROCESS AND APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,347, dated May 31, 1881.

I Application filed January 20, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. MOGALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Orange Valley, in the county of Essex, State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hat-Finishin g Processes and Apparatus, of which the following is a description.

My invention relates to certain improvements in finishing hats by a bath of heated sand or equivalent material; and it consists, first, in the employment of pressure upon the surface of the heated sand when poured into a box containing the hat upon a block or flange.

My apparatus consists, secondly, in a sandhopper provided with steam pipes or chambers to keep the sand in a heated condition,

and having a gate or outlet at the bottom for discharging the sand upon the hat at pleasure; thirdly, in a box for holding the hat upon a flange, and keeping'the hot sand in contact with it and, fourthly, in a press for forcing the sand into the closest contact with the hat while drying out its moisture.

In the drawings annexed, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a work-bench provided with all my appliances for hat-finishing by hot sand. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of the sandbox and hat-flange upon a larger scale. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section of a sand-hopper heated by a coil. Fig. 4 is a similar view of a hopper constructed with steam-jacket. Fig. 5 is a plan of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1,four presses being shown and four sand-boxes, two ofthelatter being represented under the screws of the presses, and two of them receiving sand from the hopper-spouts, and Fig. 6 is a front view of a section of the hopper with one spout and gate thereon.

A is the sand-heater, consisting of a trough or hopper, supported in any convenient manner over the work-table B, and provided with outlets a, which may be formed in the front at the lower edge, and provided with spouts a, as shown in Fig. 1, or formed directly in the bottom, as in Fig. 3, gates bbeing provided to open and close them at pleasure. By this (hr plicate arrangement of the outlets a number of hats may be operated upon consecutively, and one workman attend several presses and sandboxes. I have therefore shown four presses and sand-boxes in the plan in Fig. 5, a press, (J, being arranged over the table in front of each outlet, and a sand-box, D, and hat-flange d being provided for each press. The sandbox is formed with bottom and sides and open top, and a hat-flange of any desired shapemay be secured in the bottom by screws, as shown in Fig. 2. The hat-block c is preferably secured to the flange by springs c, a pair of such springs being arranged to project upward from the middle of the flange, and to gripe the block by expanding inside a hole formed in the under side of it. By this construction the hat may be readily removed from the box with the block, and the latter replaced upon the flange when another hat has been applied to it.

The hat may be secured to the block by a cord at the band or covered with a'cloth in the ordinary manner. In any case it is wet or sponged before applying the sand, and the latter is then drawn from the hopper upon it by opening the gate 1). When the hat is covered with hot sand the latter has a plate of wood or metal, f, laid over it, and the box is placed under the screw in press 0, and pressure ap plied to the plate to force the sand into close contact with the hat.

The presses are preferably arranged along the front edge of the work-table and the sandhopper along the rear, and the hats are therefore easily transferred from the outlet at to the press by a slight forward movement.

When the operator has placed one hat in a press he can prepare another and submit it to the same process, and thus operate upon a number consecutively while the first is shaping under the influence of the heat and pressure of the sand. When the operator removes the hat and sand-box from the press he can restore the sand to the hopper by dumping it therein from the sand-box, the hat being retained in its place by the springs upon the hatflange keeping the block in place.

If the hopper be constructed upon a large scale it may be too high to permit such an operation, and I have therefore devised the following means of returning the sand to the hopper to be reheated:

A trough,E, is formed under the table, havin g sides inclining toward both front and back, and the front edge conveniently arranged for the operator to empty the sand-boxes therein. When thus emptied the sand flows down the inclined side toward the back of the table, where it may easily be shoveled out by an attendant and replaced in the hopper.

If preferred, an elevator-belt carrying buckets may be placed behind the table and operated by hand or steam power to raise the sand from the trough E to the sand-hopper.

The brim may be curled or shaped entirely by hand after the crown is finished, or a curled flange maybe placed in the sand-box, as shown in Fig. 2.

The sand in the hopper may be heated in any desired manner, as bylong pipes i, (shown in Figs. 1 and 5,) by a coil or coils, i, as seen in Fig. 3, or by a steam-jacket, i, surrounding the hopper, as shown in Fig. 4.

To keep the sand-box and its flange d hot, the work-table B may be provided with a superficial steam-plate, or may itself be made of iron and hollow, as at c c c c, to receive steam inside.

I am aware thata bath of heated sand poured upon the hat in a conical box mounted upon trunnions has been used heretofore, and I do not therefore claim the use of loose sand, broad- 1y; but my invention consists in the combination of pressure with the weight of the sand when poured loosely upon the hat, and in the arrangements of mechanism described for inanipulatin g the sand and the hat with greater facility than has heretofore been possible. I have therefore devised the open sand-trough provided with outlets and gates, and the table provided with steam inside to keep the hatflanges hot under the presses, as well as the combination of thepresses and the hopper with a work-table adapted to sustain a number of the boxes D at once, and thereby enable the operator to act upon several hats in rapid succession.

I am aware that sand and fluid substances have been confined in bags and used for pressing hats; but the operation of such devices is much moreimperfect and troublesome than the use of the loose sand in the manner described herein; and

I therefore claim my invention in the followiug manner:

1. In combination with the bath of heated sand poured loosely over the hat in the box upon a table in the manner described, the application of pressure to the surface of the sand, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination with the box D, provided with the holding-springs c, the hat-block 0, provided with an opening upon its under side to engage with the springs, and the flange d removably fastened to the bottom of the box, so that it canbe changed at pleasure, substan tially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In combination with the table supporting the sand-box D, the press 0, operating to press upon the sand in the box, in the manner herein set forth.

' 4. I11 combination with the table supporting the sand-box D, the open trough or sand-hopper A, means for heating the sand, as herein described, and for discharging it into the sandbox, as by outlets a and gates b, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The combination, with the table for supporting the sand-boxes D, of the open sandhopper A, provided with gates b and outlets a, and the presses 0, arranged and operating substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination of the table B, carrying the boxes D, with the sand-hopper A, presses G, and trough E for receiving the sand from the boxes D, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereto set my hand.

WILLIAM J. Mc'GALL.

Attcst:

WM. DlE'lZ, THOS. S. CRANE. 

